Course Catalogue 2024-2025

This pass/fail first-term required course presents an overview of living the Christian faith in community, with an emphasis on spiritual formation for leadership. It places this overview within the context of the church's visible witness and an understanding of its mission as participation in Christ's mission. It hopes to help students think through the intersection of contemporary motions of spirituality and piety and the Christian life lived in the community of the church, with its disciplines and practice. It also hopes to begin to prepare students for continued growth and formation in Christ, through the gifts the church offers, as they begin to be trained and formed as Christian leaders.

Introduction to the art and science of preaching. Topics: exegesis and hermeneutics for the purpose of preaching, techniques of sermon preparation, structure and delivery.

This course will engage students in the educational ministry theories and practices in relation to intercultural leadership both within and beyond the United Church of Canada (UCC). Perspectives from intercultural, critical race, decolonial, and postcolonial theories will be studied. Students will develop strategies for anti-oppressive forms of education and practice, in terms of scriptural interpretation, contextual analysis, and leadership for community empowerment.

This course will explore various therories of human development, stages of human growth, and lifespan spiritual journey in correlation to human growth, and will discuss implicaitons for Christian Ministry. We will reflect on our own growth and journey along with theories of human growth and spititual journey.

What is educational ministry? How can we reshape Christian Education in our congregation in order to revitalize the church and society? Exploring the structure of educational theory, reflecting one's educational experience in the church, engaging in dialogue with theorists in Christian Education, we will attempt to refashion Christian Education for today's church, and create a vision of Christian education in order to revitalize the congregation.

This course is Part One of a two-part introductory survey. It aims to acquaint students with issues that scholars have found significant in New Testament interpretation, including textual criticism and the world of the New Testament, with special focus on the canonical Gospels—the most well-known stories of Jesus. It also aims to help students understand the relevance of this kind of study for their ministry.

Exploration of the content of New Testament writings, especially the canonical gospels and Pauline corpus. Emphasis will be placed upon understanding these writings in their original socio-historical contexts, and on methods of interpretation.

The focus of this course is on the various methodologies for reading and analyzing the New Testament rather than theology and spirituality. The sad events of our own world illustrate some of the dangers of superficial and overly literal readings of religious writings. Biblical literacy should not be the privilege or duty of a select few, but the right and responsibility of all Christians. The purpose of our study is to provide the tools necessary for an in-depth reading of the New Testament utilizing a variety of methodologies. No one methodology is definitive or exhaustive; each one examines the text from a different perspective and reveals another aspect or layer of the passage in question. Although the material might seem technical and esoteric at times, providing the people of God with a biblical message that is rich, life-giving, and based on a sound understanding of the text is an eminently pastoral undertaking.

The focus of this course is on the various methodologies for reading and analyzing the New Testament rather than theology and spirituality. The sad events of our own world illustrate some of the dangers of superficial and overly literal readings of religious writings. Biblical literacy should not be the privilege or duty of a select few, but the right and responsibility of all Christians. The purpose of our study is to provide the tools necessary for an in-depth reading of the New Testament utilizing a variety of methodologies. No one methodology is definitive or exhaustive; each one examines the text from a different perspective and reveals another aspect or layer of the passage in question. Although the material might seem technical and esoteric at times, providing the people of God with a biblical message that is rich, life-giving, and based on a sound understanding of the text is an eminently pastoral undertaking.

The focus of this course is on the various methodologies for reading and analyzing the New Testament rather than theology and spirituality. The sad events of our own world illustrate some of the dangers of superficial and overly literal readings of religious writings. Biblical literacy should not be the privilege or duty of a select few, but the right and responsibility of all Christians. The purpose of our study is to provide the tools necessary for an in-depth reading of the New Testament utilizing a variety of methodologies. No one methodology is definitive or exhaustive; each one examines the text from a different perspective and reveals another aspect or layer of the passage in question. Although the material might seem technical and esoteric at times, providing the people of God with a biblical message that is rich, life-giving, and based on a sound understanding of the text is an eminently pastoral undertaking.

A historical and theological introduction to the four Gospels. We will study the Gospels from a multi-dimensional perspective as a fourfold witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will ask historical questions: about the origin of the Gospels in Jesus’ ministry and the women’s Easter experience, the setting of the Gospels in early Judaism and in the Roman Empire, and the process by which the Gospels emerged as a fourfold proclamation of Jesus Christ. We will ask literary and source-critical questions, about the literary origins and narrative shape of the Gospels. And we will ask canonical and theological questions, considering the Gospels in their character as a fourfold and scriptural witness, reading them in relation to each other and to the OT scriptures on which they draw.

A historical and theological introduction to the four Gospels. We will study the Gospels from a multi-dimensional perspective as a fourfold witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will ask historical questions: about the origin of the Gospels in Jesus’ ministry and the women’s Easter experience, the setting of the Gospels in early Judaism and in the Roman Empire, and the process by which the Gospels emerged as a fourfold proclamation of Jesus Christ. We will ask literary and source-critical questions, about the literary origins and narrative shape of the Gospels. And we will ask canonical and theological questions, considering the Gospels in their character as a fourfold and scriptural witness, reading them in relation to each other and to the OT scriptures on which they draw.